Hopefully you are enjoying the beautiful summer season! Below is a condensed update of legislative and related work I have been involved with since the session ended on March 9th.

Stakeholder Meetings

In addition to working on legislation for next session, I am taking a deep dive, with the input from experts/stakeholders into areas continuing from last session which I believe are critical to our district and state, including - our aging population and Utah's water resources.

A large group of stakeholders convened on May 16th at the Capitol attempting to tackle this debilitating and costly issue. Stakeholders included those representing state and local governmental entities, hospitals, physicians, home and health care, occupational therapy, insurance companies, etc. We met to begin the process to recommend solutions. We broke into smaller, focused groups and will report to the entire group on July 11th. "Inspiring" is how I would describe this group - committed to work together with an objective to share the breadth and depth of existing information, plus any new information designed to encourage the highest possible quality of life for our elderly population. I am grateful for the support of our Utah Department of Health, specifically fall expert Sally Aerts. Unfortunately, the funding for her position has ended. She will, however, continue her leadership and share her knowledge on a voluntary basis.

Water impacts virtually every aspect of our quality of life, including our health, livelihood, environment and recreation. With our population explosion expected to continue into the foreseeable future, our water demand will likely continue to grow. While the vast majority of our Utah water supply is consumed by agriculture, it's still essential that we develop smart policies and take positive action as soon as possible. There are no guarantees our water sources will be

Jordan River - photo by Bernshaw Photography, courtesy of Jordan River Commission

consistent. We have experienced drought conditions over several years and although this year was better, it ended up only "average" for precipitation. One of my major interests is to keep more water in our natural streams and waterways. What started as a defined piece of legislation - allowing public water suppliers to keep more water instream, has become a broader discussion on water policies, including forfeiture, water banking, split season approach to water use, watershed councils, etc. Members of the Executive Water Task Force, as well as many other water experts from stakeholder groups met on June 2 and June 26, and will meet August 1, and onward to holistically and inclusively advance policies for the future. Fortunately, the experts at the table know water, the laws and our state.

Interim Committee Meetings

This summer's legislative schedule is very busy with committee meetings. As a member of the Legislative Management Committee, I voted to support the request for additional interim meetings in preparation for our condensed, 45-day legislative session. Also,

the appropriation subcommittees decided to meet more frequently, rather than having fewer and longer meetings during the summer. Confirmation committees have been unusually busy, as well. The senate is responsible to confirm all appointments.

Please visit le.utah.gov to listen to the recordings and access materials for the respective interim meetings. I have also listed my present legislative committee assignments - those highlighted (and which are hyperlinked) are for my committee assignments during interim meetings.

See Interim Highlights for May and June, prepared by our amazing Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel. This will give you a rundown of all committees and specific agenda items, and any action taken. This provides the best summary of our interim meetings.

There were interesting topics in each of my interim meetings. As a newly appointed member of the Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands, I will expand on what transpired at this meeting. After an introduction and overview of this commission, we had updates from Utah's Federal Delegation (U.S. Congressman Rob Bishop) by phone outlining priorities and federal-state relations on public lands issues and objectives; the implementation of county Resource Management Plans; law enforcement jurisdiction on federal controlled land in Utah, specifically hearing from Kane County; and discussion of Interior Secretary Zinke's recommendation to shrink Bears Ears National Monument and review our Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Legislator Assignments

Legislators are also on committees for other organizations. The two largest legislative organizations are the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and Council of State Governments (CSG and CSG West which covers our region of states). NCSL is a bipartisan, non-governmental organization which serves members and staff of the state legislatures of the US. CSG is a non-partisan, non-profit that serves all three branches of state government. CSG is a region based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. Both provide excellent conferences, seminars and research so that we can learn, understand and better serve our constituency.

Appointed by the President of the Senate, I serve on the following committees:

NCSL Education; Military and Veterans Task Force

CSG WestAgriculture and Water

CSGShared State Legislation

Other Meetings

Granite School District Budget Preview

I attended a meeting with the Granite School District and Granite School District Board. The proposed FY18 budget is roughly $643 million dollars. Thank you to Ben Horsely, Director of Communications, for the budget summary below.

61st Annual Utah AFL-CIO Convention

I attended the 61st Annual Utah AFL-CIO Convention. The speakers were fabulous. Joel Kotkin, an internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends, was the keynote. I attended two break-out sessions: presentation by Lauren Scholnick & Erik Strindberg of Strindberg and Scholnick, LLC who handle employment and labor law matters; and

Michael Barrett, New Outreach and Education Coordinator

Michael Barrett, Utah Labor Commission-Outreach & Education Coordinator who spoke on "Discrimination in the Workplace: Know your Rights and Responsibilities". During the 2016 legislative session, I sponsored SB 185 Labor Remedy Amendments to strengthen the remedies for compensation discrimination in Utah Code. I also requested an appropriation for an outreach and education coordinator. It was inspiring to hear what Michael Barrett has done in this position. Mr. Barrett has a BS in Psychology and MS in Human Resources from Utah State University and extensive work experience in his specialty in government and northern Utah companies. He was an investigator in employment discrimination claims for the Utah Labor Commission. He has enthusiastically crisscrossed the state to inform employers and employees their rights and responsibilities, how to avoid discrimination and protect against discrimination in the workplace.

Other Issues

Bears Ears

Interior Secretary Zinke announced his recommendation to shrink Bears Ears National Monument and to alter its management structure. I opposed both resolutions last session to shrink or rescind Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante. The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News have had some great op-eds on these issues.

The Paris Climate Accord

I participated in a letter, as well as a statement with over 550 state legislators representing 45 states to oppose President Trump's withdrawal from The Paris Climate Accord. This voluntary agreement deals with greenhouse gas emission mitigation and works toward a clean energy economy, both of which I support.

Alyssa Baer

Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Luncheon

Alyssa Baer from Olympus High School won top honors and a nice monetary scholarship as one of the 2017 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Recipients. Congratulations Alyssa and her proud parents! Alyssa is a bright, talented, and engaged individual who will no doubt continue her successes as she heads to BYU.

Upcoming Events

There are events throughout our district to celebrate the 4th of July. I will be in the parade hosted by the East Mill Creek Lions Club (proud Lion member!) for the first time. The past years I have been cooking at the chuck wagon breakfast which is always a highlight. This year, I will help judge our registered parade participants - winners to be announced at the grand stand at 11 am. Attending the evening Holladay Concert with Peter Breinholt and Fireworks has also been a nice tradition. And of course, Sugar House fireworks have been a priority since my time in the Salt Lake County Council where I sponsored an ongoing appropriation to support this regional event.

East Mill Creek 4th of July Community Celebration - "Land That I Love"

While we celebrate, let's remember our state and local laws on fireworks. I have also received complaints of violations, specifically of fireworks being set off on disallowed days and times. Most importantly, we need to be diligent and mindful of the devastating safety risks and fire danger.

I will continue to work very hard for my constituency and our state. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Utah Senate.

As always, I appreciate your input. Your voice is critical. If you would like to volunteer, please contact me, I can be reached at
jiwamoto@le.utah.gov (legislative matters), iwamoto.jani@gmail.com (personal matters), by mail to 4760 S. Highland Drive, #427, Salt Lake City, Utah 84117, or by phone at (801)580-8414. Check out my
website here, or you can interact with me on my
Facebook!

This Senate seat includes the following house districts: District 36 (Rep. Patrice Arent), District 37 (Rep. Carol Spackman Moss), District 40 (Rep. Lynn Hemingway), District 46 (Rep. Marie Poulson) and District 28 (Rep. Brian King). To see who your Representative is
click here!